So how old is old enough?

[NastyWoman]

Reading the comments to this story has led me to believe that I was the worst mom ever because I (a)  I let them fly on their own by age 10 and (b)  let my kids out of my sight before age 29. Will only a parents supervision do? What about school, summer camp, church?  Discuss   

www.everydayfamily.com/blog/10-year-old-girl-goes-missing-after-flying-alone-on-united-airlines/?utm_medium=rss&utm_source=outbrain&utm_campaign=articles&tc=120043&subid=articles&utm_term=US

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[Deleted]

I would maybe consider a direct flight with a cell phone.

[Apple]

Wow--love this one as well...
www.everydayfamily.com/blog/mother-arrested-for-using-13-yr-old-as-babysitter/

By the time I was 13 I was babysitting all kinds of kids, and was babysat by my older sister (left in charge of three of us), at least from the time she was 13, but more likely 12.

[grits]

It depends on the individual child.

[weltschmerz]

I let my son fly alone when he was eight to visit his father, 3,000 miles away The crew at Air Canada took very good care of him.

[Deleted]

I think it all depends on the kid. My oldest had our debit card & was on my checking account at age 9 (I was a single parent). I think the first time he was on a plane alone was at 17 but he was on his way to college. As for the youngest at that age (either 9 or 17), I wouldn't have trusted him not to pick his nose with an ice pick.

[grits]

Some airlines added fees to watch your kids. I wonder, are those fees still there?

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Jan 21, 2013 22:54:36 GMT -5 Apple said:

Wow--love this one as well...
www.everydayfamily.com/blog/mother-arrested-for-using-13-yr-old-as-babysitter/

By the time I was 13 I was babysitting all kinds of kids, and was babysat by my older sister (left in charge of three of us), at least from the time she was 13, but more likely 12.

I started babysitting when I was 12.  By the time I was 14, I had a pretty decent business going on.  

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Jan 21, 2013 23:07:41 GMT -5 grits said:

Some airlines added fees to watch your kids. I wonder, are those fees still there?

They were when I flew last year.  Those fees are not insignificant either.

[Deleted]

Jan 21, 2013 22:54:39 GMT -5 grits said:

It depends on the individual child.

This, absolutely.

[BeenThere...DoneThat...]

...I wouldn't let my kid fly alone until they'd become a frequent flier... a kid of ours would have logged that kind of mileage long before they reached the age of 10...

[NoNamePerson]

I didn't check out the link but will say this. My generation would have had only one child because we would have been imprisioned and/or banished to caves for the things we allowed out kids to do. My son flew alone at 5. Not from a major airport or into a major airport - was attended to as a VIP. My friends freaked out, not because he was flying alone, but I have a fear of flying (yes I fly, just not my favorite way to get around.)

I also understand times are different, but I sometimes wonder if young people today are going to develope that instinctive self preservation needed when they finally get out from under helicopter parents wings. And they will leave the nest. You need street smarts to live.

Also agree about knowing your child. I went back to work when my son was in 4th grade. He had a key and instructions to call me the minute he came thru the door. 

Sorry I just got wordy on this one and could go on but will shut up for now -tongue2-

[beags]

I read the article . . . that girl being lost is the fault of the airline.   If you read the link it clearly states she was lost because the third party unaccompanied minor service forgot to show up.   THEN when she asked to use a phone, she was told to wait.   A bunch of other things that happened as well.    Don't use United Airlines if your child has to travel alone.   Parents pay extra for this service.  There is no excuse for the airline losing a child when the fee has been paid for the service.  

I have a friend who flies her child to see his dad every summer.   They now live on other ends of the country.   She lives in TX and he lives in Maine.  Every year the boy flies out.   She pays for the tickets and the service every time.   A few times he has stopped here along the way and I have picked him at a nearby airport.   American Airlines has always had a person with him.   They hang on to him until the adult arrives.  Not only that, you are called to the desk and asked for your identification before they hand him off to you.   That's how it should be.   Parents pay good money for this unaccompanied minor service.  

After seeing this unaccompanied minor service done right year after year, I would not have had a problem sending my children on a plane.  BUT I have never had a need to like my friend did.   The parent didn't fail the child, United Airlines did.   There's just no excuse for this. 

[Deleted]

Still, don't you think you would have sent a cell with the kid? 

[beags]

IF the service the parent paid for was done correctly, there is no need for a cell phone.    Not every parent has an extra cell phone.  Not every parent gives thier child a cell phone.   Shocker, I know, but some parents wait until the kid gets a job where he/she can pay for his/her own phone.  Some parents will wait until their child is in high school to get them a cell phone.  

So no, I don't think the parent should have sent the kid with a cell phone.  

The airline failed, plain and simple.   This time the fault does not lie with the parent.   If the service is done correctly, it would be just like the parent was with the child.   In this case the service they paid for   forgot they had to accompany a child.  The child flew alone without the parent knowing.   Then the service wouldn't allow the child to use a phone.  

You can blame the parent if you want to.   But if you know the cost for this service or have seen it action, you would see why I am blaming the airline.   The parent was responsible in paying for this service.  The airline failed.   If I were the parent, this airline would find themselves in court. 

[Deleted]

I wasn't saying blame. But I would not have had my kids travel without a cell. I also recognize that, while in theory everything should work as you pay for it to work, it often does not. In the end, I would never trust anyone to be as responsible for my kid in the way I am... So they would have back up plans and a cell phone...

[zibazinski]

I started flying my kids to see their grandparents direct flights only at age 5. If that meant grandparents had to drive too major airport for the direct flight, so be it. It got the kids out of my hair for awhile and it got me out of visiting people I didn't especially like. They just really wanted to see the grand kids anyway. Plus, I sent them one at a time so each kid got one on one attention.

[beags]

Jan 22, 2013 9:16:11 GMT -5 oped said:

I wasn't saying blame. But I would not have had my kids travel without a cell. I also recognize that, while in theory everything should work as you pay for it to work, it often does not. In the end, I would never trust anyone to be as responsible for my kid in the way I am... So they would have back up plans and a cell phone...

I was that type of parent as well.  Which is why I am happy I never had to fly my children out by themselves anywhere.    That would be a tough decision to make.   Back up plans and cell phones would not have helped out this particular situation any.  The child was still left at the airport alone and lost.  All the phone would have done was have the child call you.  If you were someplace where you could take the call at the time, great.  the child would have been able to talk to you and felt a little bit more secure.  BUT she still would have missed her flight, and she still would have been lost.    If someone bad would have picked up the child, the child would not have had the cell phone either.  That's the first thing the kidnapper gets rid of.  

The reality is no back up plan works when the airline fails their obligation that they were paid well to do.   Yes, you would have known sooner that the child was lost if the child had a cell phone.   YOu need an adult to change airline plans.  A child can't do that.   What would the back up plan be in this situation?   They are lucky the child wasn't picked up by someone.  A child is no match for an adult.  There is no way a child can fight off an adult.  Yes, the child can raise a scene, but it often goes ignored as there are children who will raise a scene when with thier own parents as well.   

[zibazinski]

Airlines are very well paid for this service but I still remember sitting in an airport waiting for my flight and the attendant for the minor child asked me if she could leave him with me while she went to the rest room. Sure, I was fine with it but what if I was a nut job? Or worse reported her to the airline for leaving her charge. I get she couldn't take him into the ladies room but there must be back p employees that could watch him for a few minutes. The idea that that could have happened to one of my kids did not make me happy.

[sesfw]

I know times are a lot different.  The first time DD (age 5) flew alone was in 1966, and she flew from major airport to major airport non-stop.  Before cell phones and total nut jobs.  She was under supervision of the hostesses at all times.  My parents had to show ID to get her and we had to show ID at return to get her.

Fast forward to 2004.  G-DD was 14 the first time she flew alone.  She had a cell phone and didn't need supervision.  No problems.

[Shooby]

  I would not let children under about 14 fly alone.  I think airports are tough to navigate if you are unfamiliar with what to do.  So, if you are comfortable, that is great but i would personally not be.  I put a big limit on sleepovers.  Sorry, but there are way too many pervs running around and unless i know them well, my kids aren't going over all night long.  That doesn't mean they don't go to some sleepovers but they don't go to all of them.
  I did not allow anyone to take my small children to any bodies of water unless i was there.  I just dont' trust other people to watch my kids as closely.

[Sum Dum Gai]

Sorry, but there are way too many pervs running around and unless i know them well, my kids aren't going over all night long.

The vast majority of sexual molestation of minors is perpetrated by people they know well. Statistically the neighbor you barely know who invites the kid over for a sleepover is less risky than the family friend you've known for twenty years.

Answering the OP, I'd have no problem letting my girls fly alone at fairly young ages (say around 6 or 7) provided I could take them all the way to the gate and not just to security, it was a direct flight, and I trusted the person they were flying to see to be standing approximately two feet outside the security gate on the other end at least half an hour before their flight was scheduled to land. There's not really a whole lot that can go wrong on the actual plane. It's not like they're going to open a window and jump out.

[Shooby]

  "The vast majority of sexual molestation of minors is perpetrated by people they know well. Statistically the neighbor you barely know who invites the kid over for a sleepover is less risky than the family friend you've known for twenty years."

 Yes, i know.  And, i knew someone was going to say that and make that point.  But, as a parent i have to draw some lines somewhere and that is where i choose to do so.  If you choose differently, fine.

[TheOtherMe]

I was babysitting at 11 or 12 and for infants.  I made more money doing that than from my allowance.  Didn't have any first aid or cpr courses either.

I flew alone to see my best friend who had moved for my 13th birthday.  It was both from and to non major airports.  It was in 1964, so things were totally different.  Mom says she had to give airline name & phone number of person picking me up and she received a call when I arrived and had been delivered.  

Since it was my very first flight, the woman I sat by was nice enough to let me sit by the window.  She could tell how excited I was and I asked her all kinds of questions.  

I once had an unaccompanied minor sitting beside me.  The plastic glass of soda had a leak in it.  She couldn't reach the call button so I did that and told the flight attendant what had happened.  She brought more soda and lots of napkins and I helped the kid clean up.  I thought it was the least I could do.

[mmhmm]

My kids were flying non-stop international flights from point A to point B at that age.  They are, however, in their 50s.  Things are different now.  I don't know that I'd allow it in this day and time.

[Deleted]

My Son is 22 years old. Last time he flew to Jamaica with bunch of friends for spring brake.
I wasn't so much as worried, but I was glad that he called, telling me he got there safe.

Answer to the OP, I am more worried about others intention then my own child's misbehavior.
Too many people with strange misconception, these days.

[Shooby]

  I think a lot of it has to do with your personal experience and parental comfort.  If we were frequent fliers and my kids have been in and out of airports for years with an understanding of how to navigate through them, then of course that would seem less of an undertaking for them. 

[spartan7886]

I flew alone for the first time at the age of 4, on a direct flight. Parents at one gate, grandparents at the other. I'm sure the businessman I sat beside had plans for the flight beyond talking to a 4yo who then fell asleep on his shoulder, but I was in general a well-behaved child. It's not like he had a laptop he could work on back then anyway.

My first layover alone I was 13. That one was a bit rougher, because it was a short layover on the way out, and I'd never been through Atlanta before. I made it, though, without any unaccompanied minor services. I did get put in the unaccompanied minor room on the way back, because my flight was delayed 4 hours for thunderstorms such that my aunt and uncle had to leave before me. She was concerned that I'd have to spend the night, so he took advantage of million-miler status to raise hell to make sure I got taken care of.

I might go a few years older now, since flying has gotten so much more obnoxious since 9/11, and I'd avoid the layover at an unfamiliar airport, but living in Houston, you can get pretty much anywhere without a layover anyway.

[973beachbum]

I flew alone for the first time at 14.  I went from Newark, NJ to San Fransico, CA so about as far as you can get on an airplane and stay in the country.  What my mom did though was book a non stop flight.  There is just too much to me that can go wrong when the plane lands and the child has to go into the airport and get to their connection.  It is a chance I wouldn't take with my kids. To me it would be a direct flight on nothing.

I also babysat at 13.  Then again I never had a 4 yr old wander outside on me. ;D

[Deleted]

I got my first babysitting job when I was 11, and I took my first flight when I was around 22. I am seriously lacking in "wanderlust".